The Art of Being “Bad-ass”

There are some people you’re meant to meet. Out of nowhere, you run into them. Or, as in my case, your nosey side gets the better of you and you overhear things. Their words carve into you like a stonemason’s tool, and help shape you into what you are and hope to be. I’m glad I have big ears, because I got to hear Chad talk a little about his life.

Before meeting him last year at one of the local music jams that he runs, he was a complete mystery. Like me, he’s middle-aged. Judging by the song list the house band played, it was clear that music to him is an ocean, rather than a narrow, meandering brook. He’s another local, gigging musician . Or is he?

Chad is more than that. In that timeless seventies parlance that we grew up with, he’s bad-ass. Period. A few years ago, he decided to devote himself to music full-time. His courage and determination are part of the reason I created this blog. I wanted this post to be a Q&A-style interview with him, but after reading one of his recent emails, I said “forget it, I already have my interview.” Because in a few short sentences, he describes exactly what it takes to be a bad-ass, to live your passion and make it work. In utterly uncompromising fashion, he gets down and speaks his truth.

Here are Chad’s Rules for Making Your Dreams a Reality:

Pruning—as with dead leaves and branches from a tree, it’s wise to let go of things that might tie us down and keep us from reaching up. ” I’ve learned as I swim and wander through this remarkable thing called life that so much of what I thought was soooo damn important, doesn’t matter much to me anymore…I have learned/am learning to sluff it off as I go.” This includes “relationships that don’t grow or seem to work, as that is the greatest burden of all, and the most difficult to let go.”

2. Discipline— I can vouch for Chad’s work ethic. Just days after an operation, he was back in action at the jam, and although people often offer to buy him drinks, he doesn’t touch a drop. He provides the PA and comes early to set up and make sure everything is in working order. In all the time I’ve been a jam participant, he has never missed a Saturday or Sunday. Chad also runs his own online business ,The Little Shop of Fantasy and Horror, a nod to his love of the genre. Any business owner who reads this can appreciate far more than I the work that goes into creating and running a viable business.

3. Love/Grit/Determination–they seem inseparable. Like many musicians, Chad is in love with music and is completely devoted to it as one would be another human being. He lives simply now, in an apartment along with his cat, surrounded by hundreds of books on art, film and music. It’s this love of playing that drives him. When one of his mic stands went missing, he talked about how he never replaced it. He couldn’t. A good chunk of his earnings came right out of pocket to buy an abdominal brace, something he absolutely needed in order to continue singing at the gigs. He performs when he’s sick or in pain, lest the venue decide to replace him. And in this town, there are bands standing in line waiting to do so. An “impregnable deflection shield” is crucial for survival, even when making music at the local level. Chad didn’t elaborate or give examples from his own experience, but given that this is the music business, the reader is invited to fill in the blanks. I can say this from experience ( and thank you for reminding me, Mark). Sometimes you play to an empty house. Sometimes people talk over your music. You put in countless hours learning the tunes, and then preparing, arranging and working out the song list so that your audience will stay interested. Maybe, if you’re lucky, they’ll like you and want to come back to see you again. A larger audience correlates to more food and drinks sold. If you can’t draw a crowd, you’re out of a job.

As Chad so eloquently puts it: “believe me, there is sacrifice. The music gods demand sacrifice, and they will pull your world inside out and upside down, and twist you every which way to make sure you’re not gonna break. It’s a bitch and you better really, really love it, and love a different kind of reward that only the truly passionate can understand. Or the truly insane, perhaps. Because otherwise, you will run (or crawl) screaming into the embrace of the first safety net you come across, and that will be the end of it. ”

2 thoughts on “The Art of Being “Bad-ass””

I have the privilege of knowing this “Chad” of whom you speak. For the last couple years, I have seen him play many, many times. I am always struck by how much he loves playing music in spite of what I would imagine would sometimes be drudgery (playing many of the same songs the audience loves over and over, playing before drunken knuckleheads, or even playing before sparse crowds). Somehow he is always into the music. He is always affable and gracious to others wanting to play. I look forward to his Sunday Jam every week and the magic that often comes together there. It is through his jams that I have listened to and have the pleasure of knowing many of the talented musicians in our area, not the least of which, a certain “late blooming drummer” that always knocks my socks off. Here’s to people like Chad who spread the joy of music to a small few who appreciate the dedication it takes to pull off such an endeavor.